I’m on the Wait List – Now What?
As most of our first year applicants have received their admissions decisions by now (if not, please let us know!), we know many of you have questions about the decision that you received. We have re-published the post below for all of our waitlisted students, with updated data for our entering class of 2013. If you have further questions about the wait list process, please contact your admissions counselor, or post them in the Comments below.
First of all, congratulations! I know that not receiving an offer of admission was a disappointment for many of you, but your spot on the wait list is a testament to our belief that you would, in fact, be a valuable and successful addition to the Vanderbilt Class of 2017. Because we are held to a strict requirement of 1,600 first year students, we routinely under-admit our applicants with the full intention of taking more from our wait list after the May 1 matriculation fee deadline. An offer of a spot on this list, then, is not a statement of “we will not admit you,” but rather, “we may be able to admit you, but not right now.”
Not everyone who is offered a spot on the wait list, however, will accept it. Many of our wait-listed students have received offers from other fabulous universities that they will be accepting. If that is the case for you, simply respond to the electronic form detailed in the letter you received declining your place on the list, and we wish you the best of luck in your educational endeavors.
If you are still interested in attending Vanderbilt and have not accepted your spot on the list (as many of your already have), it is extremely important that you submit the electronic response form by May 1. We also ask that you continue to respond to each of the periodic emails you receive from our office asking if you would like to maintain this spot. We will only admit students off of the wait list who have responded to every email inquiry we have sent up to that point.
Okay, so you’re on the wait list. The natural question that follows: What are the chances of being admitted from this point forward? Just like we cannot predict any one student’s admission chances in during the rest of the admissions cycle, we cannot predict your chances of being admitted off the wait list. However, we can tell you that we expect approximately 8-10% of our freshman class to be made up of students who were admitted from the wait list.
The next question everyone wants to know: where am I on the list? Because Vanderbilt admits its incoming first year students by individual school, we do not have one giant wait list, but rather four separate lists for each of the four schools. However, we do not rank our wait lists. As places in the class open up, we will be pulling our wait-listed applicants using the same holistic review process we used in the initial evaluation, taking into account high school achievement, standardized test scores, extracurricular involvement, and those wonderful intangibles that come through in your essays and recommendations. In addition, your demonstrated continued interest in attending Vanderbilt may be a factor as well.
While we do not require you to submit new information during this process, we certainly allow it. Feel free to send new test scores, new grades, new activities, new leadership positions, or new letters, but make sure to focus on that key word: new. As previously stated, your spot on the wait list is a good sign that your application was pretty spectacular to start with, and sending additional materials for the sake of sending additional materials will not give you a leg up at this or any point.
We will likely begin making offers to our wait-listed students in the first week of May. Because this is after most other schools’ matriculation fee deadlines, we strongly encourage you to put down that deposit at another school to ensure you will not be left without any options. We will continue to make offers until the freshman class is completely filled, which may occur within the month or well into the summer, depending on how quickly those empty spots are snatched up.
If you are offered admission during this time period, you will receive a phone call from one of our officers. Within 24 hours, a financial aid package will begin making its way towards your house. Although we do reserve the right to be need-aware when admitting wait-listed students, those who are admitted will still receive 100% of their families’ demonstrated need, completely loan free. Once you have reviewed your aid package and considered your options, you will return the candidate reply form and your matriculation fee to us within the time frame indicated when the offer is made.
We understand that after waiting patiently for three months to receive your admission decision, it may be frustrating to hear the words “please wait some more.” I hope, however, that you receive this offer in the spirit of achievement and hope with which it was sent and that you continue to work with us as we continue to build this truly ground-breaking Class of 2017.
April 13th, 2013
For waitlisted students, is Vanderbilt need-blind or need-aware in its admission process?
April 13th, 2013
We reserve the right to be need-aware while admitting students from the wait list, though we do not necessarily need to do so every year.
May 3rd, 2013
Will you guys be need-aware this year?
May 3rd, 2013
Hi Kevin,
We may or may not be need aware for each individual student throughout the wait list process. It is not a blanket decision that we will make for all students, and I am not sure when financial need may become a factor this year, if it will at all.
April 14th, 2013
I haven’t recieved any emails to reply to thus far. Have any been sent?
April 14th, 2013
Hi Olivia,
We have not sent any emails to our wait-listed students at this point. We will likely send the first one in a couple of weeks.
April 14th, 2013
Thank you so much! I was nervous there!
April 16th, 2013
Hi!
In the 2011 post about wait-list, it is advised:” One email or phone call to your admission counselor is usually sufficient.” Does this advice apply to this year’s situation?
Thx a lot!
April 16th, 2013
If you simply wish to stay active on the wait list, be sure to submit the online wait list response form and provide an accurate email address. If you wish to update your counselor on any new developments, you may contact s/he directly.
April 30th, 2013
Sure. Thank you!
April 16th, 2013
To any waitlisted students…donts give up hope! I am currently a sophomore at Vanderbilt and was admitted off the waitlist. Keep up with the emails they send and wait out the process. Not going to lie, it is disappointing to be put on the waitlist, but there is still the possibility of getting in. Once I received my phone call I never looked back!
May 3rd, 2013
Did you apply for financial aid? I am a waitlist student who applied for financial aid so I am worried whether I get in or not because I was told they look at your financial situation when accepting people
May 1st, 2013
Hello, I was waitlisted and, it is May 1. Have you guys started making call to waitlist students with offers of admission? I am really anxious.
May 1st, 2013
Hi Kevin, no, we haven’t begun making offers to students on the wait list. Typically we don’t begin that process until we know how many students accept our offer of admission. As you point out, today is May 1, so we will begin making decisions about WL’d students relatively soon.
May 1st, 2013
Do you happen to know when you guys will be starting? It is really anxious waiting? Sorry to pester you with all of these questions but I am just really nervous and excited at the same time.
May 3rd, 2013
Hi Kevin,
We will likely make the first round of wait list offers within the next several days.
May 3rd, 2013
Alright, and I was told that there is no ranking for the waitlist, so I was wondering how do you guys determine who gets in the first round of waitlist offers? Also, do you guys contact over the weekend or will you guys start contacting on Monday?
May 3rd, 2013
As stated in the blog above, wait list offers will be made based on the contents of a student’s application, the degree of demonstrated interest, and the particular school and/or department needs. We are not certain when the first offers will go out, but it will likely be in the next several days.
May 3rd, 2013
Alright. Thank you very much, and sorry to be pestering you guys with so many questions, but its just a nervous/anxious time as I am sure you guys can understand. Thank you for everything!
May 1st, 2013
Hi, about a week ago I sent in a letter of continued interest and a new teacher recommendation form to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Did I send those letters to the right place, or was I supposed to send them to my admissions counselor? Thank you.
-Jessica
May 3rd, 2013
Hi Jessica,
You can either sent these items to the office or to your counselor – either way, they will end up in the same place.
May 3rd, 2013
Alright, thank you so much for your assistance!
May 4th, 2013
Goodness, I’m so nervous. Every time I get a phone call the adrenaline starts kicking in. Ahhhhhh.
May 4th, 2013
same here. I am so nervous. I want to go to vanderbilt so badly.
May 4th, 2013
What are appropriate ways to continue to demonstrate interest over the next few months?
May 6th, 2013
Hi Sam,
The most important thing for you to be doing at this point is keeping an eye on your email and responding to any and all messages you receive from our office.
May 6th, 2013
people have said that they have started to receive offers from the admission office via email and i was wondering if you guys were done sending out emails for the waitlist. do you guys go by what school and i was wondering what order? i did not receive an email so i am disappointed yet anxious. are you guys done it or do i still have a chance?
May 6th, 2013
Hi Kevin,
We have begun making offers of admission from the wait list, but we will likely continue to make these offers over the coming weeks.
May 6th, 2013
have you guys started for all the different colleges? i am in the college arts and sciences one. did you guys already start for cas? is there anything i can do now to increase my chances?
May 6th, 2013
Hi Kevin,
We made offers in multiple colleges this round, and will continue to make offers where we are still feeling needs. At this point all you need to do it continue to check your email and respond to any messages you receive from our office.
May 6th, 2013
If I am admitted off of the wait list, do I have to go to Vanderbilt?
May 7th, 2013
No, you are no required to attend Vanderbilt if admitted off the wait list.
May 7th, 2013
Will waitlisted transfer students be “competing” against waitlisted freshmen students for admission? Or are the two groups reviewed separately?
May 8th, 2013
No, the two groups of students are part of two completely different processes.
May 7th, 2013
If we were not offerred admission from the first wave, what are our chances for being in the second wave? I don’t know what else I can do to show how interested I am in Vandy.
May 15th, 2013
Hello,
It is now May 15th and I have not received a call. Do I still have a chance at being accepted (are there still spots in the freshman class to be filled?)? Thanks.
May 16th, 2013
Hi Evan, we’re still filling the first-year class.
May 15th, 2013
Have there been any notifications after the Waitlist Response Update 2 email?
May 16th, 2013
No, that was the most recent Wait List email sent.
May 20th, 2013
I just received an email asking if I would still be interested in attending Vanderbilt. Does that mean that the second wave has already been sent out?
May 21st, 2013
We have now sent a second round of wait list offers. If you would like to be considered for future rounds, please continue to respond to these interest inquiry emails. We are unsure, however, when or if these future offers will go out.
May 23rd, 2013
I am a transfer student and I just go my wait list letter ! so now what ?? I did not get any email or anything !
May 23rd, 2013
At this point we have not yet begun admitting transfer students off of the wait list. We are not yet sure when this process will begin, as it will depend on how many of our admitted transfer students accept their offers.
June 2nd, 2013
i havent heard anything lately….are there still offers for the class of 2017?
June 3rd, 2013
Hi Kevin,
At this point we have not yet closed the freshman class, which means we may still make more offers from the wait list. You will be notified when this process is complete.
June 3rd, 2013
so is it just waiting at this point? how do u guys decide who gets off the wait list at this point for each individual school? do i just wait to hear back?
June 3rd, 2013
Yes, at this point the only thing you need to do is wait, though we encourage all of our wait-listed students to continue moving forward with their plans to attend another school, in case an offer from Vanderbilt is not made.
June 3rd, 2013
Ok, then. Do you know how many more spots there for the class? just so i have an idea
June 4th, 2013
Unfortunately I cannot tell you how many spots are available, as this number fluctuates from day to day.
June 5th, 2013
Ok then. Do you happen to know when the next round of offers will be sent out?
June 6th, 2013
The offers are no longer being made in official “waves,” but more incrementally as we need them.
If you are still interested in receiving an offer of admission, make sure to email your admissions counselor and let him/her know: http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/your-counselor/
June 11th, 2013
Hello,
I read the previous comments and I was wondering what the admissions committee is now looking at. It says no officiai waves or being sent out but by individual offers but what are you guys looking at right now? I have financial need so is that hurting me?
June 11th, 2013
Hi Danielle,
We are mainly evaluating the original contents of your application, along with any updated grades or accomplishments you have sent us. While we do reserve the right to be need-aware on the wait list, we do not take financial need into consideration when making every decision.
June 24th, 2013
Do you have any updates as of now?
June 24th, 2013
Hi Danielle,
We will email students directly if there are any updates regarding the freshman wait list.
March 30th, 2014
Is it possible to have your enrollment deposit added to your student account? I’m pretty sure that if I do get in via waitlist, my parents will not be able to afford to shell out another $500 in that time period.
March 31st, 2014
If you are offered a spot in the class from the wait list and you feel that the matriculation deposit poses a financial hardship, you should speak with your admissions counselor about the requirements for a waiver.
March 31st, 2014
Okay thanks so much Mr. Watson!